


Out of Trust

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Coda, Episode Related, Friendship, Gen, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 23:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13868118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: Jack trusts Matty with his life. Just not with Mac’s. Matty’s POV. (Unbeta'd)





	Out of Trust

**Author's Note:**

> Coda to ep 216.

She calls him in to her office the very next morning.

Matty’s standing by the window, staring out across the sunlit parking lot, when Jack just waltzes in with barely a knock, as is his wont, and immediately starts talking.

“Look, Matty, if this is about my shoulder or, God forbid, my sword skills ‘cause those are  _awesome,_  let me tell you–”

Matty turns around, face set in a scowl. She’s really not in the mood for his silly talk right now. “You broke into my house, Jack!” she cuts him off sharply. It’s not a question, it’s a  _statement_.

He blinks, raising his eyebrows, and asks innocently, “Your house was broken into? Was something stolen?”

She takes a step forward, anger boiling inside her. “Cut the crap,” she snaps. “I know it was you. It couldn’t have been anybody  _but_ you! And I don’t really care  _how_ you did it or who helped you - though I have a pretty good idea!”

She pauses, breathing in deeply. When she continues, her voice is softer, the hurt she’s felt ever since she realized what happened seeping through. “All I want to know is why.  _Why_ , Jack? I thought we  _trusted_ each other!”

Jack stares at her a moment longer and then, with an alarming abruptness, the foolish expression drops off his face and suddenly, there’s the man she used to know back in the day standing in front of her, the ruthless agent willing to do anything to achieve his goal. It sends shivers down Matty’s spine because she thought this man gone, mellowed, maybe with age or thanks to MacGyver’s influence. Oh, how mistaken she’s been.

He straightens up and narrows his eyes and in a voice that’s deadly quiet he says, “Oh, I trust you, Matty. I do. You’re my boss and you’re my friend. And I trust you with my life. With  _my life_.”

 _Oh_. So, that’s what this is all about, then, she realizes. “But you don’t trust me with MacGyver’s,” she states slowly. Again, it’s not a question.

Snorting, Jack replies, “I don’t trust anyone with his life.  _No one_.” He looks at her hard. “And especially not people who lie to him.”

She sighs. “I  _didn’t_ lie, Jack. Whatever you found in my safe, whatever you  _think_ you found in there, I can promise you, it’s not like that. You’re reading it all wrong.”

“Then tell me, Matty. Tell me what it  _is_ like, what’s going on here,” he demands. “That’s all we’re asking of you, to tell the  _truth_.”

“But I can’t!” she exclaims, throwing up her arms in frustration. “I  _can’t_ , Jack. If I could, I would tell you - him - what this is all about. But I just can’t. You were in the CIA, too, you know exactly what it means when they order you to keep your mouth shut about something, you keep quiet or you find yourself six feet under - or worse yet, the people you care about end up that way!” she adds pointedly.

He catches her meaning. “People  _like_ …?” He leaves the sentence hanging in the air.

“People like MacGyver,” she finishes softly. That’s all she can say, as far as she can go. She just  _can’t_ explain herself and it’s  _killing_ her! “Whatever you think is going on here, I promise you, you’ve got it wrong. I’m trying to  _protect_ Mac.”

“By lying to him?” Jack says in disbelief.

“Sometimes, knowing the truth is worse than living in the dark, Jack,” Matty tells him not unkindly. “And definitely more dangerous. Especially in our line of work. You  _have to_  trust me on that.”

He stares her straight in the eye for a long time, then very slowly, he shakes his head. “Sorry, but I’m all out of trust when it comes to Mac. In the last year alone, his girlfriend almost got him killed, he acquired not one but two maniacs hellbent on murdering him, and our boss, his  _mentor_ , betrayed us and almost got us all killed. So, no, Matty. I really  _don’t_ have to trust you that you have Mac’s best interests at heart.”

Now it’s her turn to narrow her eyes. “I could have you arrested for breaking and entering.”

Jack shrugs. “Do that. Then we can chat about this openly, in front of everyone. Let them all know what’s going on here!”

“Or I can just fire you!” Matty adds but really, it’s just her frustration talking here. She knows what that would lead to. And a second later, Jack confirms it.

“By all means. Mac will go with me, you know he will,” he states with not a sliver of doubt in his voice or posture. He’s right and they both know it.

They stare at each other. Jack will do everything,  _literally_ everything, to ensure MacGyver’s safety. What he does not realize is that she will do the same thing. She’s been doing it for years now, even before she actually got to know him, MacGyver, as a person. But… what now?

“I guess we’re at an impasse, then,” Matty says quietly.

Jack nods. “It seems so, yeah.”

She nods, too. “Then I can only hope that our…  _issues_  won’t affect the work of your team,” she says, sighing inwardly.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” he assures her. “As I said, when it comes to work, there’s no issue between us. I have no doubt you won’t pull a Thornton on us. And neither me, nor Mac will tell anyone about our personal…  _disagreement_.”

“That’ll have to be enough, then, I guess.” For now, she adds in the privacy of her mind.

“I guess it will,” Jack agrees.

“In that case, I’ll see you in the war room in an hour, we have a new mission waiting,” Matty says, effectively dismissing him.

He nods and heads for the door. With his hand on the doorknob he stop, though, and turns back to her. There’s regret in his eyes. “I want to trust you, Matty, fully and without reservation. Because you’re my friend and I like you. But I can’t. Not when it could compromise Mac’s safety. I swore I would protect him, always and from anything and anybody.” He pauses and then his expression hardens again. “Even from you.”

With that, he leaves and Matty’s left standing there, looking after him. 

After a moment, she closes her eyes and with a sigh she whispers, “Oh, Jack. I’m the least of your worries.”


End file.
